Who is leaving SNL? Fate of cast confirmed in finale of 50th season

Rumours have been swirling for weeks about who could be leaving the SNL cast at the end of the 50th season - and their fate was seemingly confirmed during the finale episode as fans watched their fingers.

The cast is currently 17 members strong, with some comedians reaching their 6th or 7th year, including Colin Jost, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim as well as Kenan Thompson, the longest-serving SNL cast member in history.

Other current cast members include Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang, James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker. The show has also welcomed some newer players, including Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline.

SNL

Last summer, it was announced that Punkie Johnson, Chloe Troast, and Molly Kearney would all be leaving.

As the 50th season drew to a close, there were murmurings of who could be next to go with Colin Jost and Michael Che favourites to say goodbye during the finale episode.

Jost and Che have been the key hosts in the Weekend Update, and if they quit, it could be the end of that segment - not least because they've both threatened to leave the show for several seasons now.

Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner were also tipped to leave, with other players similar to Day's style joining the cast, and Gardner taking more of a backseat role this time around.

However, in the finale episode, as fans geared up for the big news, it turned out no one would be leaving that night.

"Why did I prepare myself for a crashout when nobody announced they were leaving?", one fan wrote on X.

"Yall i don’t even know what to do. do we mourn??? did we trick ourselves??? i thought goodnights would give me the answer", another added.

While there'll likely be confirmation in the next few weeks about who we'll be seeing back on our screens for season 51, we can all breathe a sigh of relief for now.

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